Next Friday—December fifth for those without a calendar—I should be submitting my first novel to several fine book e-tailers. I say “should” because I come from a computer programming background and programmers very quickly learn the value of never being definite (“well, it should work”).

Satin & Sutherland – The Golden Curse is a novel set in 1879 in the Dominion of Canada. It follows a con man and a gearhead as they embark on an adventure to find a lost treasure. A treasure that may well be cursed.

I had a lot of fun writing this novel. I was able to pull in a lot of things that I thought were really cool to have: a real world historical basis, science fiction elements, adventure elements, treasure hunting elements, humour, and pirates! Let’s not forget the pirates.

For myself, I broadly classify this as a steampunk novel, if I had to pigeonhole it. But a steampunk novel set in Canada. While traditional Victorian England was experiencing a renaissance of sorts—with high fashion, refined society, and growing industrialization—much of Canada was still under development and in its own version of the “Old West”. It seemed like a fantastic setting to me.

If all goes well, I’ll be uploading the book to Amazon, the Google and Apple bookstores, and to Kobo next Friday. From the FAQs I’ve read at these different sites, it may take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple days before the book becomes available for purchase. I’ll be monitoring the progress of each site and will be updating the website and tweeting as the book comes “online” at each one.

To get a taste of what’s to come, check out the Satin & Sutherland section of the website.

OR

Download one of these free preview samples featuring the first few scenes from the novel: